Scott Melvin Galant, 29, pleaded guilty Wednesday to rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault, admitting he sexually abused the 8-year-old in 2018. “My daughter is the strongest child I know,” the victim’s mother told Galant in court. “But she had to be. You left her no choice when you made her relive over and over again the nasty things you had done to her.”
In a letter last month to the victim and her family, Galant wrote that he regrets his actions.
Accepting a plea negotiation reached in the case, President Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. sentenced Galant to 10 to 40 years behind bars.
The sexual abuse came to the attention of police in December 2018 when, according to a criminal complaint, Galant in a phone call to the victim’s mother told her that he had abused her daughter some months prior.
Approached by her mother, the victim confirmed the abuse had occurred, but said she kept it a secret because she was scared. The girl provided additional details of the assault during an interview with a forensic interviewer from the Child Advocacy Center. The incident was investigated by Falls Township Police and prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Mary Kate Kohler.